Ventilating device



Oct. 3, 1939. K H FE|GE I 2,174,975

VENTILATING DEVICE Filed March 30, 1937 25 2206751 04"- 5 Kari Z20 4? Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE vEN'riLATING DEVICE. Kurt nrige, Chicago, 111.

Application March 30, 1937, Serial .No. 133,865 7 Claims. (01. 1513-39) This invention. relates toa ventilation'device for cars such as motor cars, railway cars-and the like, and consists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a ventilating device for association with and connection to a car window capable of installation, when the body or door which contains the window is originally fabricated or of .ready application to said body or door after the body and door have been fabricated.

Another object of the invention is to produce a device of the kind which is of cheap and economical construction and which is capable of ready and easy application to the body or door containing the window with which it is to associated.

The objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully as I proceedwith my specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentaryperspective view of the body of a motor car showing: my improved ventilating device included therein.

Fig, 2 is a perspectivev view of a unit which contains or is adapted to contain the mechanism of the improvement.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a door with a window opening and formed to receivev and retain the unit shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a partial section on an enlarged scale through a door, with my invention installed.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on a somewhat smaller scale of the car door to which the invention has been applied, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an inside elevational view showing the invention applied to a window in the car body.

Fig. '7 is a sectional perspective fragmentary View showing a slightly modified form of the invention.

Fig. 8 indicates a spring used to support a spring roller embodied in the invention.

Fig. 9 indicates a perspective view. of one end of the spring roller shaft. r

Fig. 10 is a view representing a longitudinal central section through the spring roller and its supports.

Referring now to that embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing: ll] indicates a motor car body having a windshield ll, side doors I2, l3, each with a window adapted for raising and lowering in theusual way, and MV indicates a window capable of raising and lowering, mounted in the body In.

The improved ventilating device is mounted'in a hollow shell formed in the body or in the top rail of the door above the window opening with 5 which it is associated, or preferably in a hollow shell adapted to be inserted into a suitable opening in-the body or door frame either before or at the time of fabrication of the car body. In Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive, the construction is of the 10 second named type.

The car door I2 is provided with the usual window opening I5 with a slot l5 about the openingfor guiding the window providing a tight closure thereof at its margins, with the usual pocket below said window opening to receive the window when it is lowered. l6 indicates the top rail of the door. I! indicates the hollow casing or shell which provides a housing for the ventilating member and the mechanism for 20 operating it. Said casing comprises a hollow elongated box slightly longer than the width of the window opening, with a top plate I8 which projects beyond the sides of the box in lateral flanges l8 l8 and beyond the ends of the box Q in end flanges 18 W". The top rail I 6 of the door is provided with a slot l9 above the window opening l5 to receive the box part of the casing I]. The side flanges I 8 and then end flanges 18 rest up the rail IE to which they are secured 30' by bolts or in any other suitable manner.

Within thev casing I! is mounted a spring roller made of any familiar construction. It includes as shown a shaft 20, a barrel 2 I, end plugs 22, 22 in which the shaft 20 is rotatably mounted, 35 and a coiled spring 23 attached at one end to the barrel 2! and at the other end to the shaft 29. The housing I! has end walls 24, 24 provided with vertical slots 25, 25 (see Fig. 10) in which the flattened ends 20 of the shaft 20 are slidably en- 4 gaged. The roller is supported in position by spring yokes 26, 26, one at each end of the housing adjacent the end walls 24, said yokes having a cross member at the top with a depression to receive the ends of the shaft 20 and the legs of the yoke resting on the bottom wall 21 of the housing.

Wound upon and with one end secured to the spring roller is a flexible fabric 28 somewhat wider than the width of the window opening. This is the ventilating member of the device and is made of any material suitable for the designed purpose. The fabric may be of light cloth, of fine mesh suitable to admit air and light. And this fabric may be painted dark'on the inside andwhite on the outside so as to act as an efficient shade without preventing a clear outlook by those within the car.

The bottom wall 21 of the casing I! has a longitudina'l slot 29 through which the free end of the flexible fabric member 28 may be withdrawn downwardly. Said free end is fixed to a channel member 30 with its base wider than the slot 29, but having flanges 3| which extend upwardly through said slot 29 and grip the end of the fabric 28 between them. The channel bar 30 thus provides a stop to limit the upward movement of the free end of the fabric 28. The channel bar 30 is of a width to pass through the slot l5 of the top rail I6 of the door above which slot it is directly located.

32 indicates the glass Window pane with which the ventilating member 28 is associated. Said window has near its middle and at the top a narrow, substantially horizontal shoulder 33 formed by a depression in the glass, and a hook 34 is attached to one side of the channel bar 30 vertically above the position of said shoulder. Said hook 34 snaps into engagement with said shoulder 33 when the window is raised to bring its top edge against the inside bottom of the channel 30.

The operation of the device is as follows: After the window has been raised to catch the hook 34 under the shoulder 33, the window is lowered in the usual manner to any distance desired for the purpose of ventilation, cooling or otherwise. It will also act to keep out dust and block its entrance through the space occupied by the fabric ventilating member 28. It will also keep out rain.

It will be understood that the channel bar 30 will be formed to conform to the curvature at the top rail I6 as it merges into the side rails 35 of the door, as shown in Fig. 5.

In Figs. 6 and 7 is shown a slightly modified construction and illustrates the treatment at such a window as [4 in the body of the car. Here the parts are the same as before and are indicated by like numerals except where modification is made. In this construction I'I indicates the housing and 36 the hollow part of the body member which is to receive it.. Said body part 36 includes parallel spaced vertical plates 31, 31 between which the housing ll is adapted to be inserted upwardly, the upward movement being limited by lateral flanges 38, 38 which engage the bottom edges of said plates 31.

It will be understood from. the foregoing description that the operation of unwinding and of re-winding the flexible ventilating member is automatic and depends upon and is directly related to the operation of the glass pane for raising or lowering the window in the usual manner. The spring yokes 26 which support the shaft 20 at its ends, act as tension members which operate to hold the lateral edges of the flexible fabric at all times stretched and taut. Such yokes permit the ends of the shaft 20 to move downwardly or upwardly by reason of the slots 25, thus providing for a floating action of the roller. There will thus be no danger or tendency at any time for a slacking or loosening of the said lateral edges, which would tend to bind them in the grooves in which they slide.

Obviously the amount of ventilation will depend upon the distance which the glass pane is lowered, since the opening above the window will determine the area of the ventilating member to be exposed.

While in describing my invention I have referred to certain details of construction and arrangement of parts, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto except as maybe pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a ventilating screen device for a window having a movable pane, a box-like housing having an open lower portion and a flanged top portion, and being so constructed and arranged as to be bodily insertible in the frame of the window with the flanged top portions abutting the top of said frame.

2. In a window construction which has a hollow frame part in line with the pane of the window and a movable pane in the frame; a device of the character disclosed comprising a housing having an opening opposite an edge of the pane, a floating roller in said housing and having a flexible web thereon with the free end of the web extendible through said opening, a shaft upon which said roller is rotatable and having the ends of the shaft extending beyond the ends of the roller, movable supporting means in said housing at the ends of said roller for supporting the said extending ends of said shaft, each of said supporting means comprising a cross piece for supporting a shaft end and having downwardly extending resilient legs so mounted in the housing as to provide for a floating action of the shaft and roller.

3. In a window construction which has a. hollow frame part in line with the pane of the window and a movable pane in the frame; a device of the character disclosed comprising a housing having an opening opposite an edge of the pane, a floating roller in said housing and having a flexible web thereon with the free end of the Web extendible through said opening, a shaft upon which said roller is rotatable and having the ends of the shaft extending beyond the ends of the roller, movable supporting means in said housing at the ends of said roller for supporting the said extending ends of said shaft, each of said supporting means comprising a resilient member in the form of an inverted U with the cross portion of the U so constructed and arranged as to support the end of the shaft and with the legs of the member so mounted in the housing as to provide for a floating action of the shaft and roller.

4. In a window construction which has a hollow frame part in line with the pane of the window and a movable pane in the frame; a device of the character disclosed comprising a housing having an opening opposite an edge of the pane, a floating roller in said housing and having a flexible web thereon with the free-end of the web extendible through said opening, a shaft upon which said roller is rotatable and having the ends of the shaft extending beyond the ends of the roller, movable supporting means in said housing at the ends of said roller for supporting the said extending ends of said shaft, each of said supporting means comprising an upper downwardly depressed portion for receiving and supporting the end of the shaft and downwardly extending resilient legs at the ends of said upper portion of said member, said legs being so mounted in said housing as to provide for a floating action of the shaft and roller.

5. In a device of the character disclosed for window having a movable pane, a box-like housing having a horizontally slotted lower portion and vertically slotted end walls, a floating roller in said'housing and having a flexible web thereon with the free end of the web extendible 75 through the slotted lower portion of the housing, a shaft upon which the roller is rotatable and having its ends extending beyond the ends of the roller and through the slots of said slotted end walls whereby both ends of the shaft have vertical movement in said slots of said end walls, yieldable supports in said housing located adjacent said slotted end walls and for supporting the ends of said shaft, each of said yieldable supports comprising an upper cross portion for supporting the end of the shaft and having downwardly extending resilient legs resting on the slotted lower portion of said housing so as to provide for a floating action of the shaft and roller.

6. In a ventilating device for a window having a hollow window frame part and a movable pane in line with said frame part, a box-like housing bodily insertible in said hollow frame part and which comprises a top portion and spaced depending side wall portions for providing space therein for the mounting of a roller with a web on said roller, said side wall portions having inwardly directed flanges which provide between the inner edges of said flanges a slot parallel to the top portion of the housing and so spaced below the top wall as to offer an opening for the passage of the web from and to the roller in the housing, said top part being in abutting relation with an overhanging upper portion of said hollow frame part.

7. In an automobile window construction having a hollow frame part in line with the movable pane of the window, a movable pane in the frame, the frame having an elongated opening in line with said movable pane, a hollow unitary device of the character disclosed and which is removably insertable as a unit through said opening in said frame and into said frame into frictional engagement with the side walls of said frame, said unit comprising a slotted portion in line with said opening in said frame and said pane and being spaced away from said opening within said frame to provide a bar space within said frame, a roller rotatably mounted in said hollow unit and having a flexible web thereon with the free end of the web extendible through the slot of said slotted portion and through the space between said slotted portion and said opening in said frame, and through said opening in said frame, a stop bar attached to said free end of said web and being of a width to freely pass through said opening in said frame and to abut said slotted portion of said unit to close the slot in said slotted portion of said unit and to be disposed in said bar space.

KURT H. FEIGE. 

